St Margaret's Church, King's Lynn

Pictures from the feast scene at the foot of the Robert Braunche brass.
Braunche was mayor of Lynn in 1349 and again in 1359. He died 15th October 1364. In 1349 King Edward III and Queen Phillipa visited Lynn and Braunche is reputed to have given them the magnificent peacock feast commemorated here.

from a tablecloth (160 x 180cm) made circa 1562-68, with silk, gold and silver embriodery depicting, in the middle, Count Poppo of Henneburg and his wife Sophie of Brunswick. The pair are framed by a setting by Martin Agricola of Luther's 'Ein Feste Burg" and two rows of musicians. Amongst the musicians is the woman trombone player illustrated.

Female Slide Trumpet Player

Stadtgeiger and Stadtpfeiffer from Leonhard Flexel.

Grazer (i.e. from Graz) Schutzenbuch (1568). In Early Music Aug. 1989 p. 409.

"Lobsprach des furstlichen Freischeissens" by Leinhard Flexel, Innsbruck, 1569. According to Trevor Herbert in his new book, "The Trombone", they are the Stadpfeifers of Graz.See also the image above, which is obviously a different version of the same scene.

What certainly appear to be the Amsterdam Stadpeipers. The Livery is apparently the City's (note the XXX upon the Lace, the main charge on the City Arms). In the Amsterdam Historical Museum.For more on this picture, go to Notes & Queries.

Detail showing the X's from the arms of Amsterdam on the sleeve of the livery coat.

Published according to Act of Parlt Novr 16 1761
Novr 17. 1761 Sold by I Smith at Hogarth's Hd CheapsideA VIEW of CHEAPSIDE as it appeared on LORD MAYOR'S DAY laft
How their Majesties King George the 3rd and Queen Charlotte viewed the civic procession from Mr Davd Barclay's House opposite Bow Church.

Detail from the picture on the left, showing the City of London Waits playing just below the Royal Box. (except for the horn player on the left, who is having a quick tipple!)

In Holland's Exhibition Rooms may be seen the largest collection of humorous prints. Admittance, one shilling.

A contemporary account of the occasion by Fanny Burney states:
"Think but of the surprise of his Majesty the first time of his bathing; he had no sooner popped his royal head under water, than a band of music, concealed in a neighbouring machine, struck up 'God save Great George our King'."

Attached is probably the (Nixon) original of the (Holland) print we already have on the site of George III bathing at Weymouth, accompanied by wet musicians. Both are dated 1789. You will notice that the Nixon is the mirror image of the one retailed by Holland, which appears to have been engraved from the former, hence printed reversed. It is difficult to confirm musically which is the correct way round, as the oboist's hands are correct on the Holland version but the bassoonist's hands are correct on the Nixon one, or were upper/lower hand positions still not fixed at that time? I think that both versions merit a place on the website. Regards, Alan.

Harper's Weekly January 6, 1872
What once was the wassail is now less poetically known as caroling, some also refer to it as the Christmas Waits. Pictured is a scene of traveling musicians serenading a crowd of elegant ladies and gentlemen. A maid pours drinks while a cellist plays, a boy sings and another plays the accordion.
The page measures 11 x 16 and is in excellent condition and is currently for sale at http://www.toddtarantino.com:80/harpers/wassail.html.

This painting of Leicester Town Waits is by Henry Reynolds Steer (1858-1928)
Original in Leicester City Museum.
This painting shows the High cross, which stood at the junction of present day names of High Cross Street and High Street.
The Towns Waits, or civic musicians, are playing Christmas carols and their boy apprentice holds the music.
Not a bad Victorian representation of Renaissance Waits -
although the instruments they are playing - oboe, vox humana (tenor or alto oboe) or some sort of hybrid recorder, and some sort of 'cello or viol, are more late 18th/early 19th century.

Woodcut of three trumpeters a flautist and a taborer, found in the German language version of Wikipedia: Link. Wikipedia suggests that this is a picture of "Pifferbrüder" and associates the name of Olaus Magnus and the date of 1555 with the image. In southern Germany, Stadtpfeifferei guilds were referred to as "Piper Brothers" ("Pifferbrüder").

Olaus Magnus Gothus (b. 1490, d.1558) became Archbishop of Uppsala in 1554. Later, he became canon of St Lambert in Liége. He wrote "Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus" (History of the Northern Peoples), printed in Rome 1555. This book was a mixture of the folklore and the history of Sweden. As he travelled widely through europe, visiting Netherlands, Poland and Italy, it is difficult to say what nationality these musicians were.